CARPHA/PAHO team up to do quality assurance for private labs

The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) and the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) are teaming up to provide quality assurance certification for private laboratories who intend to provide testing for COVID-19 testing.

In a joint media release with the Ministry of Health, CARPHA announced that they will be providing technical oversight to the process which will be led by the Ministry. PAHO will assist in quality control and quality assessment to build a quality assurance programme and involves Trinidad and Tobago in a global external quality assessment (EQA).

Elaborating on the process, the Ministry says all private laboratories that wish to be assessed via this initiative should submit the following information to the Office of the Chief Medical Officer.

· The name of owner(s) of the laboratory

· The name of the laboratory, and address

· Contact details (email address and phone number(s)

· The necessary technical documentation detailing the types of tests being conducted

· The name and designation of the personnel conducting the COVID-19 tests

Representatives of private labs can call the Office of the Chief Medical Officer at 627-0010 ext. 1616 or mail submissions and queries to:

The Office of the Chief Medical Officer,

Ministry of Health,

#63 Park Street,

Port of Spain.

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